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Elderfield, Otterbourne, Winchester
Good Friday [30 March], 1866

MS location unknown. Printed in Coleridge, Life 224

My dear Anne
As we fully expected, the holy and blessed spirit went to its rest at one o’clock on Thursday morning; the other gentle spirit is placidly waiting her call to be with him.1 She slept quietly after having given thanks after it was over, but was much overcome on wakening, and this is the last we know of her. I should feel comforted to know the rest had come, which cannot be far off now. The erysipelas had nearly passed off, and the Bournemouth doctor ascribes it altogether to the long strain of sorrow upon the weakened frame. I am very thankful for both their sakes, but we feel very desolate. The funeral is to be on Thursday, and mamma has written to offer a bed to the Peter Youngs, in case they should not have room at the Vicarage. Mr. Wither has a terrible cold, and I dread Sunday for him.

Your most affectionate
C. M. Yonge

1John Keble died at Bournemouth on Thursday 29 March 1866; his wife Charlotte, who had long been an invalid, survived him for six weeks. Newman’s comment was: ‘it struck me (I trust it is a really charitable thought) that she was to be kept awhile to do penance for having kept Keble from being a Catholic.’ Letters and Diaries XXII 234.

Cite this letter


The Letters of Charlotte Mary Yonge(1823-1901) edited by Charlotte Mitchell, Ellen Jordan and Helen Schinske.

URL to this Letter is: https://c21ch.newcastle.edu.au/yonge/2111/to-anne-yonge-44

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